Hidden Villa workshop resources

Thanks to all the tree and land care professionals who attended the Oak Health Workshop that I taught today at Hidden Villa. Thanks also to Lisa, Maggie, Bill, and others on the staff at Hidden Villa who helped make this workshop happen. Below are the links to some of the papers and books discussed in my talk.

Forest vegetation and soil succession
A 2009 scientific paper by L. Klinger   Read On>>

A holistic approach to mitigating pathogenic effects on trees
A 2008 scientific paper by L. Klinger   Read On >>

Bryophytes and soil acidification effects on trees: the case of Sudden Oak Death
A 2005 scientific paper by L. Klinger   Read On >>

Examining the relationship between fire history and sudden oak death patterns
A scientific paper by M. Moritz and D. Odion   Read On >>

Ecological evidence for large-scale silviculture by California Indians (Chapter 6)
by L. Klinger; in Unlearning the Language of Conquest edited by Four Arrows   Read On >>

Tending the wild
An excellent book by M Kat Anderson  Read On>>

Toro Canyon oaks after two years of fire mimicry

Coast live oaks in Toro Canyon new Santa Barbara were treated two years ago with fire mimicry. The photo comparisons are presented below. While these oaks have shown a very good response to the treatments, they are not significantly different from what was seen last year (see Toro Canyon oaks). This I believe is because the owner, upon seeing the good results after one year, opted to pass on the second-year treatments. The owner has now decided to schedule another round of treatments.

Hearst Castle oaks after five years of fire mimicry

Last week I visited Hearst Castle and re-photographed the oaks that have been undergoing treatments with fire mimicry for the past five years. Below are the results. Note that the last two oaks of this series are included as untreated controls. Last year’s results can be seen here.

Message from an arborist

Yesterday I received this email from Don Cox, an arborist who has been involved with the Sudden Oak Death problem since the very beginning. He has agreed to let me post it here:

Dear Dr. Klinger,

As a California arborist involved with the “Sudden Oak Death” syndrome since 1995, I have been aware of your work in this area. I know you are on the right track with ‘Sudden Oak Life’ and mineralization of the soils.

Since the 1990’s even before we had a positive ID of P. ramorum as a primary factor in SOD and the emphasis was directed on the pathogen as the primary cause, I believed that there was a complex set of circumstances for the advance of this species decline. I saved some significant trees for my clients in the midst of SOD killing fields of Marin, Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties, with a comprehensive PHC (plant health care) approach including soil re-mineralization. I see that you have taken up this comprehensive approach with soil health as the focus and you have had the determination to stick with your convictions in spite of the opposition.

I’ve been reviewing the Sudden Oak Life website and the results you are getting with your tree care programs; you have a lot of good information there. Keep up the good work.

Don Cox

ISA Certified Arborist WE-3023A, Tree Maintenance and Plant Health Care Advisor

Don has pointed me to two important websites:

soilminerals.com – which has a wealth of information on the use of minerals to improve plant health and soil fertility

treesolutions.com – with information and services on health care for trees of the Central Coast of California

Thank you Don for your support of a broader, more ecological approach in addressing Sudden Oak Death.

Sudden Oak Life blog 2010 in review

The stats helpers at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.

Crunchy numbers

This blog was viewed about 10,000 times in 2010. In 2010, there were 37 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 61 posts. There were 105 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 40mb. That’s about 2 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was January 5th with 128 views. The most popular post that day was Newsroom.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were suddenoaklife.org, woodlands.co.uk, facebook.com, mail.yahoo.com, and wattsupwiththat.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for sudden oak life, acid rain 2010, lee klinger, acid rain in 2010, and acute oak decline.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Newsroom April 2009

2

Acid rain in Big Sur – Feb. 2010 update March 2010
2 comments

3

On the origins of fire scars in California redwoods May 2009
2 comments

4

About February 2009

5

Case Studies April 2009

Acid rain in Big Sur – December 2010

Big Sur coast, December 2010 (photo by Lee Klinger)

The December 2010 rain pH data for Big Sur are in and the results are posted in the table below. Note that I was away on travels during November 2010 , so I do not have pH data to report for that month. Rainfall amount, however, was recorded and totaled 1.89″ (h/t Lauren Gamblin).